American rising star Luke Lamperti is back in Europe and ready to dive back into chaos of the spring classics in his second season at Soudal Quick-Step in what’s been a delayed debut to 2025.
Last year by mid-March, Lamperti was already lighting up the calendar with a string of searing performances and a fistful of podium spots in his debut pro races.
His 2025 campaign was postponed, however, due to a knee issue over the winter that saw him wisely take some precautionary extra time off the bike.
Now he’s in top shape and eager to make up for lost time, and will click back into the pedals Wednesday at Nokere Koerse in Belgium.
“I’ve been in Girona a few weeks now,” Lamperti told Velo. “It’s a later start to my season than normal. The plan was to be back in Europe in January, but I had a small issue with my knee. It pushed my season back a bit and I couldn’t start training properly until January. I feel I’m ready to race, and I’ll be ready for all the most important races at the spring classics.”
Also read: Quick-Step bullish on Lamperti ahead of sophomore season
An IT band issue flared up over the off-season and led to minor knee pain, an injury that can be particularly troublesome for cyclists. Given the demands of pro racing on knees, even a minor issue can snowball into something major if not managed correctly.
With a decisive and high-pressure second pro season ahead of him, Lamperti and Soudal Quick-Step opted for caution rather than risk exacerbating the problem.
“Knees are tricky,” he said in a telephone interview. “Unlike a broken bone where you know the timeline, knee injuries can be unpredictable. It can be an issue at the front, at the back, at the side. You do thousands of pedal strokes per ride, and if something is off, it can get worse real fast. We didn’t want to push through it and risk the whole season.”
Diving back into the deep end
Now, the 22-year-old is pain-free and eager to make an impact in the Belgian one-day races, where he hopes to continue his upward trajectory from his breakout rookie season.
Lamperti’s European campaign starts Wednesday at Danilith Nokere Koerse, followed by Bredene Koksijde Classic (March 21) and Classic Brugge-De Panne (March 26).
The Californian will see a mix of duties across the spring, and will split between working for sprinter aces Tim Merlier and Paul Magnier as well as looking for his own chances when they emerge from the mud and muck of Belgium.
Also read: Lamperti keeping it simple is rise to top
“We’ll have to see how I am going after a different winter. I’m jumping in without many races in the legs, so we’ll see where I can take any opportunities when they’re there,” he told Velo. “When Merlier is there, we’ll all be working for him because the team always wants to win. We also Magnier going well in sprints.
“So in some other races when I have a chance to take it I will, but I am always there to support the team. These races can go 1000 different ways.”
His final spring classics calendar ultimately will be determined about how well he reacts to being thrown straight back into the filth and chaos of the one-days after a long break. Injuries and illness can also see calendars and plans change by the day.
Dreaming of a ‘Wolfpack’ Roubaix raid
The American has a growing love affair with the classics and knows that the historical one-days are deeply engrained into Soudal Quick-Step’s DNA.
Even though the team’s pivoted toward grand tour racing with the rise of Remco Evenepoel, Lamperti said the team’s passion for the brutal one-day battles still beats strong within the organization.
“The classics are part of the DNA of this team. All the directors care about it, the sponsors love it, the riders love racing them,” he said. “They’re massive and even with the focus on Remco and stage racing, the team still puts a lot of emphasis on the classics.
“We probably don’t have the same classics team they had five or six years ago, but the team will still be good. We have guys like Lampaert, Merlier, big winners,” he said. “The ‘Wolfpack’ always wants to succeed in the classics.”
Luke Lamperti s’est imposé au sprint sur la première étape du #CzechTour devant Pavel Bittner et Itamar Einhorn pic.twitter.com/QNpaakmxax
— Les Rois du Peloton (@LRoisDuPeloton) July 25, 2024
He’s hoping there’s a chance to make a pro debut at Paris-Roubaix, a race he has long dreamed of competing in at the highest level.
“It’s a race that I love and I haven’t done it since I was junior,” Lamperti said from his European base in Girona. “Roubaix is a special race. Everyone goes to the start line with hope. You can come out of a break and survive. You can out of the back and have a good day. A race like Flanders is a lot harder to follow the big guys like Van der Poel and Pogačar. At Roubaix, you can have the day of life, or it can all go to shit.”
Building on a strong 2024 rookie season
Last year, Lamperti quickly proved he belonged at the pro level with consistent performances and a top-10 at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, a result that turned heads in his first full classics campaign.
He wants to pick up where he left off and convert that consistency into bigger and better results in the races that suit him.
“I was really happy to be quite consistent last year. I was always there, so now it’s about converting that into results, to go from the top 10 to being on the podium, and convert a few of those into wins when I have the opportunity,” he told Velo. “It’s a big reach to say I can go podium in a race like Roubaix, but if I can convert my results from last year into podiums and hopefully a few wins throughout the whole season, that’s where I would like to make step up this season.”
Also read: Lamperti kicks to first pro win
Lamperti is emerging as one of America’s top classics prospects and he quickly proved he can handle the argy-bargy of the pro peloton.
Quick-Step officials said they were impressed with Lamperti’s maturity and race awareness at such a young age.
Lamperti said he was never overwhelmed by bumping shoulders with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel or Tadej Pogačar.
“You spend a long time dreaming and working to get there, but I didn’t feel intimidated,” he said. “I felt like I was ready to race at the pro level and I think I fit in pretty quickly. I felt like I belonged. But when you’re racing against the best guys in the world, you can see that there’s a big gap. It’s something to work for.”
Last spring, he helped deliver Merlier and Magnier to some big wins, and his versatility and ability to navigate chaotic races earned him a last-minute call-up to the Giro d’Italia.
“It was really cool to do my first grand tour,” he said. “I roomed with Alaphilippe for three weeks and learned so much just being around him. He’s such a legend. It was such a successful Giro for the team. We won three stages with Tim, Alaphilippe was flying and he won a stage. We hit top-10 with Jan Hirt. I came out of the Giro feeling stronger.”
Right now, his grand tour plans remain uncertain. The Giro was on the docket, but his later start means a decision will be taken later.
Not a pure sprinter
Just where does Lamperti see himself fitting in?
By his own admission, he doesn’t see himself as America’s newest pure bunch sprinter.
Instead, he thrives in more selective races where the pure sprinters have been dropped, and he can be the fastest in a reduced group.
“I don’t see myself as a pure sprinter like Merlier. For me it’s more about surviving in smaller groups and being the fastest guy there. I won’t be doing the sprints in the grand tours,” he told Velo. “I can win maybe when there are 40 guys left and I can be the fastest in that group. And I think over the next three to five years, I’ll keep evolving in that direction.”
Also read: Lamperti impresses in spring classics debut
Instead of setting a single target, Lamperti is focused on steady improvement by converting top-10s into podiums and victories. With his season start slightly delayed, he’s taking things race by race.
“I don’t have a specific race or goal. It’s more about growing and improving, and building on that consistency,” Lamperti said. “I want to help the team and try to take advantage of any opportunities I can get. If I can do that, we can go from there and see what happens. My season is changed a little bit by starting later, but I’m excited to be racing again.”
Of course, Lamperti proved he’s a winner by snagging a stage victory at the Czech Tour last summer.
“Getting a win last year was big,” he said. “No matter what the race it’s hard to win at this level, so to win and to be consistent across the entire season was huge.”
Lamperti clearly thrives in life in the fast lane.